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The unstable lives of bicycles: the 'unbecoming'of design objects

Larsen, Jonas and Christensen, Mathilde Dissing ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6414-5979 2015. The unstable lives of bicycles: the 'unbecoming'of design objects. Environment and Planning A 47 (4) , pp. 922-938. 10.1068/a140282p

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Abstract

A predictable byproduct of any ‘successful’ mobility system is the breakdown and destruction of once desired, fashionable, shiny, and useful objects, yet mobilities scholars have largely ignored such issues. In this paper we document and analyze ethnographically neglected and ‘half-dead’ bikes in Copenhagen as we encounter them in racks, on the pavement, and when the municipality attempts to clear them out or recycle them. We are theoretically informed by ideas that see consumer objects as having a social and material life beyond their initial production and sale. They are constantly in a process, (un)becoming, and marked by that life. Where cycling is normally conceived of as a sustainable and environmentally friendly practice, this study shows that many bikes are ill treated and quickly become waste, and ‘matter out place’.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Publisher: SAGE
ISSN: 0308-518X
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 24 April 2020
Date of Acceptance: 1 December 2014
Last Modified: 06 Nov 2023 22:38
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/131212

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